I’m not thrilled with that draw. Moneymaker isn’t easy to trap. Plus, we’ve talked about strategy over the past little while and he and I think alike in a lot in a lot of ways. I like the guy, though, and always prefer playing someone I like. Recently me and a couple friends were just thinking and chatting about how annoying some people in poker can be. Hey, some people probably find me really annoying too, that’s life.

Last night at the draw party, it was probably the last place in the world I wanted to be. I just wasn’t in a good mood at all. I was hanging with Ivey, Jenn, and E-Dog for a bit, but right after they called my name to the stage, I went straight home. Not a drop of alcohol. That’s actually a really good thing for me. The last two years I’ve lost to Mike Matusow and Michael Mizrachi and both times I was drinking the night before and played a little sloppy. The year before when I lost in the quarter-finals to Shawn Sheikhan I was well rested and alcohol free.

It’s 5:00pm now and my match will probably start at around 7:00pm. I felt pretty good, aside from an intense workout today that wiped me out a little bit. Fridays my trainer has me doing full body workouts and they require a lot more energy.

I’ve got a lot on my mind at the moment, obviously with my mother’s condition not progressing, but also, some other stuff too. That being said, I don’t see that affecting my play. I’m going to try hard, and I’m going to stick to my game plan.

Lately all I’ve been really doing is watching TV stuff, working out, and golfing. That, and playing a little poker too. I ran pretty good this week in the 8-game mix on PokerStars and thoroughly enjoy playing it. The game changes every six hands, and I like all 8 games a lot. I’m always excited about the next game. I will never, ever, ever, enjoy playing one game in a cash game as much as I enjoy playing a mixed game.

When I broke into poker, the true test of a poker players ability was whether he could play all the games. For over 10 years all I played were mixed games and I remember loving poker so much as I played. It’s just way more interesting to me than straight hold’em, or anything for that matter. I also don’t think I have a weak game. I feel like I know how to play all the games fundamentally wells and have good card reading skills in all the games. I’d rank my best games in the 8-game mix, from best to worst:

Stud 8 or better
Limit Hold’em
Omaha 8 or better
No Limit Hold’em
2-7 Triple Draw
Stud
Razz
Pot Limit Omaha

Razz and PLO are ranked last, but I don’t think I suck at either. If there is one game I "kinda" suck at, it’s probably 7 card stud high low with no qualifier. Odd because Stud 8 is my favorite (and best) game, but when there is no qualifier for low it just completely changes the hand values and I just don’t enjoy the game. I think it’s stupid (probably because I suck!)

(Yay Jenn! Just got a text from her, she won her first match)